Island Fantasies

A crucial, clear-eyed accounting of Puerto Rico's 122 years as a colony of the US. Since its acquisition by the US in 1898, Puerto Rico has served as a testing ground for the most aggressive and exploitative US economic, political, and social policies. The devastation that ensued finally grew impossible to ignore in 2017, in the wake of Hurricane María, as the physical destruction compounded the infrastructure collapse and trauma inflicted by the debt crisis. In Fantasy Island, Ed Morales traces how, over the years, Puerto Rico has served as a colonial satellite, a Cold War Caribbean showcase, a dumping ground for US manufactured goods, and a corporate tax shelter. He also shows how it has become a blank canvas for mercenary experiments in disaster capitalism on the frontlines of climate change, hamstrung by internal political corruption and the US federal government's prioritization of outside financial interests. Taking readers from San Juan to New York City and back to his family's home in the Luquillo Mountains, Morales shows us the machinations of financial and political interests in both the US and Puerto Rico, and the resistance efforts of Puerto Rican artists and activists. Through it all, he emphasizes that the only way to stop Puerto Rico from being bled is to let Puerto Ricans take control of their own destiny, going beyond the statehood-commonwealth-independence debate to complete decolonization.

"The rise of China and its status as a leading global factory--combined with an increasing worldwide desire for inexpensive toys, clothes, and food--are altering the way people live and consume. At the same time, the world appears wary of the real costs of this desire: toys drenched in lead paint, dangerous medicines, and tainted pet food. Examining sites in China, including the plan for a new eco-city called Dongtan on the island of Chongming, suburbanization projects, and the Shanghai World Expo, JulieSze interrogates Chinese, European, and American 'eco-desire' and the eco-technological fantasies that underlie contemporary development of global cities and mega-suburbs. In doing so, she challenges readers to rethink how cities must undergo alterationsto become true 'eco-cities.' Sze frames her analysis of these case studies in the context of the problems of global economic change and climate crisis, and she explores the flows, fears, and fantasies of Pacific Rim politics that shaped plans for Dongtan. She looks at the flow of pollution from Asia to the United States (ten billion pounds of airborne pollutants annually). Simultaneously, she considers the flow of financial and political capital for eco-city and ecological development between elite powerstructures in the UK and China, and charts how climate change discussions align with US fears of China's ascendancy and the related demise of the American Century. Ultimately, Fantasy Islands examines how fears and fantasies about China and historical and political power change the American imagination."--Provided by publisher.

"In the 2015 UK General Election, one of the major pledges of the Conservative party was the repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998, to be replaced with a UK Bill of Rights. In this book, Professor Conor Gearty puts forth his case for keeping the Human Rights Act by dissecting the so called 'fantasies' that are driving the case for repeal. Analysing the debate through the perspective of British law, history, politics, and culture, he examines what arguments are in place for the repeal of the Act and how these can be dismissed as no more than 'English exceptionalism'. Structured in three parts, the book first exposes the myths that drive the anti-Human Rights Act argument. Second, in a counter-balance to these arguments, Gearty outlines how the Act operates in practice and what its impact really is 'on the ground'. Third, he looks to the future and the kind of Britain we want to live in, and how, for all its modesty, the survival or otherwise of the Human Rights Act will play a pivotal part in that future."--Publisher's website.

From the award-winning author of The Gone-Away World and Angelmaker—a novel at once heartfelt and thrilling about parenthood, friendship and secret identities, about heroes of both the super and the everyday kind. “An irresistible delight, something like Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand as played by James Bond.” —The Washington Post Sergeant Lester Ferris is a good man in need of a rest. After a long career of being shot at, he's about to retire. The mildly larcenous, backwater island of Mancreu, a former British colony in legal limbo, belching toxic clouds of waste and facing imminent destruction by an international community afraid for their own safety, is the ideal place to serve out his time. There is an illicit Black Fleet lurking in the bay: spy stations, arms dealers, offshore hospitals, drug factories and torture centers. Lester's brief, however, is to sit tight and turn a blind eye, so he drinks tea and befriends a brilliant, Internet-addled street kid with a comic-book fixation. When Mancreu’s fragile society erupts in violence, Lester must be more than just an observer: he has no choice but to rediscover the man of action he once was, and find out what kind of hero the island—and the boy—will need.

Shayna Kenyon knows heartbreak. After she catches her fiancé cheating on her the night of their wedding, a reality break in Jamaica is just the pick-me-up this romance author needs. Especially when Shayna arrives at the exclusive resort…and notices the seriously sexy brother checking her out. In the Caribbean for a wedding, Donovan Deval isn't thinking about making a love connection. But it's time to move on with his life—and that means pursuing Shayna, the exotic beauty who's making his libido leap off the charts! Shayna wants to take it slow, but Donovan's ready to turn up the heat. As passion ignites, he vows to turn their sizzling island paradise into the real thing.

Island Fantasies depicts the realities of social interactions in America's Paradise, the Virgin Islands and the world of situational events that occur on the sunny, sandy islands called "Home" to many who flock there in hopes to fill their dreams and fantasies. These three short stories begin to tell about some of the lifestyles one may encounter while exploring the libido of the Islands.

This gripping tale of mystery and horror takes place on a remote Canadian island that the isolated narrator soon discovers to be alive with terror and ghostly apparitions. A solitary scholar is left on a small island in a large Canadian lake to study on what should have been a peaceful and productive retreat. Yet, as night falls and the scholar realises the weight of his isolation, the secluded island begins to echo eerie voices and footsteps. He soon becomes convinced malevolent spirits are haunting him and must try to retain his sanity as well as his life. With its vivid descriptions and chilling atmosphere, A Haunted Island is a masterful work of gothic horror, sure to leave you chilled to the bone.

Robert Belfiore retired from the New York City Department as a captain in July 2003. He was there as a correction officer from 1987 through 1997. In 1997, I was promoted to captain and assigned to the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island and worked as the visiting captain for two years before returning to my parent command of the George R. Vierno center where he was a correction officer prior to getting promoted. He spent about two years in the Intelligence Division monitoring all data and voice special circuits. He is not a disgruntled employee and was very happy with his job and the way it worked. In the early 1990s and late 1980s, it was a totally different job. Everyone looked out for one another. Times changed with the new millennium. Things became all about statistics and numbers instead of staff safety and togetherness. In all, it was a good career, and he is certain that things will always be about helping one another.